Five years into Ford government’s privatization of hospital services: longer wait-times, unequal access, and public opposition

Nearly three in four Ontarians want provincial government to prioritize spending on public hospitals instead of private clinics: new poll

KINGSTON, ON –(COMMUNITYWIRE)– The Ford government’s signature policy initiative of privatizing hospital services has resulted in longer wait-times, unequal access based on wealth, and negative public opinion, says a new report by CUPE’s Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU-CUPE).

In 2020, the Ford government enhanced funding for private clinics to perform cataract surgeries, before passing legislation in 2023 to further facilitate the transfer of diagnostic tests and surgeries from public hospitals to private, for-profit clinics.

The government had made the argument that private clinics would help reduce wait-times. However, new data from the Canadian Institute of Health Information shows that in 2024 only 66 per cent of cataract surgeries in Ontario were performed on time, down from 72 per cent in 2020.

And yet, in last month’s budget, the government allocated $280 million more for private clinics to perform orthopedic surgeries and other procedures.

The union also commissioned a survey polling Ontarians about privatization. The Nanos poll was conducted between May 27 and June 1, surveying 1,017 Ontarians over the age of 18.

The survey found that 73 per cent of Ontarians think the government should prioritize spending on public hospitals rather than private clinics, with 84 per cent believing that public hospitals are understaffed.

“This poll shows there is overwhelming opposition to this government’s plans to privatize hospital surgeries,” said Michael Hurley, president of OCHU-CUPE, which represents 50,000 hospital and long-term care staff. “The public understands that spending on private, for-profit clinics and agencies is much more expensive, comes with poorer outcomes and duplicates infrastructure and administration. The vast majority wants our resources allocated to public health care.”

The union president also raised concerns about unequal access to care in private clinics, drawing attention to findings of a 2024 Canadian Medical Association Journal study showing that surgical rates in private clinics increased by 22 per cent for the wealthiest Ontarians while declining for everyone else. Access to cataract surgeries for the poorest people in Ontario declined nine per cent. The study noted that hospitals provided equal access to care.

At the media conference, the union showed a visual representation of this inequality through a map of Kingston, colour-coded by socioeconomic status.

Part of the accessibility issue is likely due to extra charges levied by private, for-profit clinics, according to the union.

The Ontario Health Coalition has documented hundreds of cases of private, for-profit clinics billing patients for medically necessary services – which is illegal – and add-on services that patients felt compelled to purchase.

“People can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars for health care,” Hurley said. “The great majority of Ontarians reject this expensive privatization that bakes in inequalities and greatly reduces access.”

Sixty-seven per cent of respondents to the Nanos poll said it was unacceptable for private clinics to charge people for medically necessary services.

The union expressed concerns about the acceleration of privatization, citing the CMAJ study’s findings showing that since expansion of public funding for cataract surgeries in Ontario, 22.5 per cent of these procedures were performed in private clinics.

Summary of survey results:

• 67% say it’s unacceptable for private clinics to charge patients for medically necessary services
• 73% say government must prioritize spending on public health care, not private clinics
• 84% say there’s not enough staff in public hospitals
• 72% agree with the CMAJ study results that privatization will negatively impact access to care for the poorest people

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For more information, please contact:

Zee Noorsumar, CUPE Communications
znoorsumar@cupe.ca
647-995-9859